TRAVIS HOLT | Brush Creek Partners

Behind many a successful business owner is the saga of another business—one that didn’t work. But San Antonio-based RecruitsLive.com—a bid to create an on-line community for aspiring collegiate athletes—taught Travis Holt a few things about business finance and knowing your market before he shut it down in 2008 and came back home to Kansas City. After three years absorbing the nuances of the insurance trade with Haas and Wilkerson, Holt was ready to climb back on the horse. He founded Brush Creek Partners in 2011 with a staff of two, and the fledgling insurance brokerage and benefits consultancy has since added 11 more people, in large part because of its specialization in managing cyber-risks like data breaches. “Our revenues are growing at a rate significantly faster than we expected, and we expect this to continue over the next five years in our niche markets of hospitality health care and technology,” Holt said.

KYLE CLAYPOOL | Optima Worldwide

He turned 27 just last week, which means Kyle Claypool is among those who have grown up knowing nothing but the digital age. Every day of his working career, in fact, has been spent in digital marketing. Claypool founded Optima Worldwide in 2007 to help other companies develop strategies for managing their Web presence, and from that one-man opening, the company had grown to a staff of 10 early this year—and Claypool intends to keep hiring. A client base that includes Fortune 500 companies like Assurant and YRC Worldwide is a good foundation for that, but Optima also works with start-ups and on a pro bono basis with some non-profits. The latter is where Claypool exhibits a business maturity well beyond his years, helping build Web sites or craft social media strategies for worthy causes. In addition, he says, “I love to teach, mentor and promote entrepreneurship.” He’s been a mentor to high school students in Blue Valley’s highly regarded CAPS program, has guest lectured at Columbia College, and is working with UMKC on development of an entrepreneurship program.

TORY THAEMERT | Spin! Neapolitan Pizza

As marketing manager for Spin! Neopolitan Pizza, Tory Thaemert has a front-row seat for the latest act in the Gail Lozoff Show. Lozoff, who established her business bona fides by founding Bagel & Bagel in the late ’80s, is at it again with Spin!, designated earlier this year as one of the country’s Breakout Brands by Nation’s Restaurant News.

And Thaemert has learned well: “To be an entrepreneur, you’ve got to love what you’re doing so much that you’re willing to take a chance on it,” she says. “You’ve got to trust your gut, no matter what people or data tell you. You’ve got to be resilient, because you will hit speed bumps. And you’ve got to build a strong community network, because you can’t do it alone.”

Fortunately, says the 29-year-old, Kansas City is a fantastic place to both absorb and practice entrepreneurship, and she’s had opportunities to work with some of the best—before joining Spin!, she was marketing manager for Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbecue.

CHAZ WOLFE | Edible Arrangements

The real upside to Chaz Wolfe’s business ownership? If he makes a mistake and has to eat the costs, it can be a pretty tasty experience. A little more than a year ago, Wolfe became co-owner of the Edible Arrangements store in Overland Park. He and his wife, Julie—who also happens to be his business partner—needed just seven months to pick up a second store, in Lenexa. Now 26, Wolfe is charting a course with his wife for aggressive expansion into locations throughout the Kansas City area. A look into the early returns say they’re well on their way: Chaz was valedictorian of his corporate franchisee-training class, and was one of just 35 owners—out of more than 600 nationwide—invited to the parent organization’s annual Fruit Summit. The Lenexa store ranked No. 27 out of 1,200 stores nationally in volume last year, and the Overland Park store was No. 101. Year-over-year sales at those locations were up 75 percent and 222 percent in large part because Wolfe is into solving problems. “Every problem or need,” Wolfe says, “presents opportunity, and the entrepreneurial spirit is the driver behind finding a solution or filling the need.”